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Horrible Histories
Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated history books published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic. They are designed to get children interested in history by concentrating on the trivial, unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in commercial terms. The books are written by Terry Deary, Peter Hepplewhite and Neil Tonge and illustrated by Martin Brown, Mike Phillips and Philip Reeve. The first books in the series, The Terrible Tudors and The Awesome Egyptians, were published in June 1993. In May 2007, eight of the original series were relaunched with new covers and additional content. The remainder have been republished in the new format, which was completed on January 2009.[1] See Book makeover. With approximately 70 books in the series, Horrible Histories have had 10 million copies sold in the UK, 20 million worldwide, translations to 31 languages, and are offered in 37 countries. The books have tie-ins with newspapers such as The Telegraph[2], as well as audio-book tie-ins with Kellogs breakfast cereals Cocopops, Frosties and Corn Flakes. [3] Book categories Though all of the Horrible History books are part of the same series, they are split up into many sub-series. Here are some of them: Original books These are the original books that pioneered the Horrible phenomenon: *''Angry Aztecs'' - (Aztecs) *''Awesome Egyptians'' (1993) - (Ancient Egypt) *''The Awful Egyptians'' - (Ancient Egypt) *''The Barmy British Empire - (British '' *''The [[The Blitzed Brits|Blitzed Brits]'' - (The Blitz) *''The Cut-Throat Celts'' - (Celts) *''The Frightful First World War'' - (World War I) *''The Gorgeous Georgians'' - (Georgian era) *''The Groovy Greeks'' - (Ancient Greece) *''The Incredible Incas'' - (2000) (Tahuantinsuyu - The Inca Empire) *''The Measly Middle Ages'' - (Middle Ages) *''The Rotten Romans'' - (Ancient Rome) *''The Ruthless Romans'' - (Ancient Rome) *''The Savage Stone Age'' - (Stone age) *''The Slimy Stuarts'' - (House of Stuart) *''The Smashing Saxons'' (2000) - (Saxons) *''The Stormin' Normans'' - (Normans) *''The Terrible Tudors'' (1993) - (Tudor dynasty) *''Terrifying Tudors'' (formerly Even More Terrible Tudors) - (Tudor dynasty) *''The Vicious Vikings'' - (Vikings) *''The Vile Victorians'' - (Victorian era) *''The Villainous Victorians'' - (Victorian era) *''The Woeful Second World War'' - (World War II) Horrible Histories Two in One There are also the 'Two Horrible Books in One' versions *''The Frightful First World War and The Woeful Second World War'' *''The Groovy Greeks and the Rotten Romans'' *''Gorgeous Georgians and Vile Victorians'' *''Smashing Saxons and Stormin' Normans'' *''The Terrible Tudors and The Slimy Stuarts'' *''Vicious Vikings and Measly Middle Ages'' *''The Barmy British Empire and The Blitzed Brits'' *''Angry Aztecs and Incredible Incas'' *''Horribly Huge Book of Awful Egyptians and Ruthless Romans'' There has also been a book package released entitled the Blood Curdling Box Set. It includes the books: Savage Stone Age, Awesome Egyptians, Groovy Greeks, Rotten Romans, Cut-Throat Celts, Smashing Saxons, Vicious Vikings, Stormin Normans, Angry Aztecs, Incredible Incas, Measly Middle Ages, Slimy Stuarts, Terrible Tudors, Gorgeous Georgians, Vile Victorians, Villainous Victorians, Barmy British Empire, Frightful First World War, Woeful Second World War, Blitzed Brits.[7] Novelty books According to the Scholastics[8] website, *''The Horrible (Wicked) History of the World'' - (Earth's History) *''Awesome Annual 2007'' - (various periods) *''Annual 2008'' - (various periods) *''Annual 2009'' - (various periods) *''Annual 2010'' - (various periods) *''Annual 2011'' - (various periods) *''Annual 2012'' - (various periods) *'The Mad Miscellany ''- (Miscellaneous)'' *''Cruel Crime and Painful Punishment'' - (Crime and Punishment) (Makeover Edition Cruel Crime) *''Horrible Christmas'' (2000) - (Christmas) *''The Big Fat Father Christmas Book'' *''Action Packs: Awful Egyptians'' *''Horribly Hilarious Joke Book'' *''Terrible Tomb of Tutankhamun: A Pop-Up Adventure'' *''Frightfully Funny Quiz Book'' (2010) [9] *''Nasty Knights'' (TV Tie-in) *''Perilous Pirates'' (TV Tie-in) *''Wild Warriors'' (TV Tie-in) *''Wicked Witches'' (TV Tie-in) are considered Novelty Books, and are not classified with the ordinary books. Specials There are a few books in the Horrible Histories series that have a special sign on the front cover stating that they are part of the Special sub-series of Horrible Histories. They are: *''Cruel Kings and Mean Queens'' - (The Kings and Queens of England, Britain, and the United Kingdom) *''Dark Knights and Dingy Castles'' - (The history of Knights and Castles) *''England'' - (England) *''France'' (2002) - (France) *''Ireland'' (2000) - (Ireland) *''Smashed Sarmats'' (2009) - (Poland) *''Rotten Rulers'' - (Rulers) *''Rowdy Revolutions'' - (Revolutions) *''Scotland'' (previously Bloody Scotland) - (History of Scotland) *''The 20th (Twentieth) Century'' - (20th century) *''USA'' (previously The USA) - (The United States of America) *''Wales'' - (Wales) *''Wicked Words'' - (The History of Linguistics) *''Horrible Christmas'' - (Christmas) *''The Horrible History of Britain and Ireland'' (September 2011) - (Britain and Ireland) [10] Horrible Histories Gruesome Guides (previously Horrible Histories Cities) Some Horrible Histories books have been based around a particular city, rather than a nation or a specific time period. They also have a map when the front cover is folded out, and explain some structures in the city when the back cover is folded out. Therefore, many people consider them to be a sub-series as well. (Even though Loathsome London doesn't have these qualities, it was included into this sub-series during the republishing of the series from 2008-2011.[11][12] They consist of: *''Oxford'' - (Oxford) *''Stratford Upon-Avon'' - (Stratford-upon-Avon) *''Dublin'' - (Dublin) *''Edinburgh'' - (Edinburgh) *''York'' - (York) *''London (Loathsome London)'' (previously Loathsome London) - (2005) (London) [11] Handbooks The Horrible Histories Handbooks also differ from the original books. They have colour and are shaped differently. They consist of: *''Spies'' - (Spies) *''Blitz'' - (The Blitz) *''Warriors'' - (Warriors) *''Knights'' - (Knights) *''Pirates'' - (Pirates) *''Witches'' - (Witches) *''Villains'' - (Villains) *''Trenches'' - (Trenches) *''The Horrible History of The World'' - (World History) High Speed History High Speed History is a Horrible Histories sub-series that features historical tales in a comic-strip format. The sub-series is illustrated by dave Smith. *''High speed history: Egyptians'' - (May 3, 2010)[13] *''High speed history: Tudors'' - (August 2, 2010)[14] *''High speed history: Knights'' - (August 2011) [15] *''High speed history: Rome'' - (July 2011)[16] Horribly Huge Books *''Horribly Huge Book of Awful Egyptians and Ruthless Romans'' [17] *''Horribly Huge Book of Terrible Tudors'' - June 2011 [18] [19] Quiz books Sometimes, as well as the ordinary books, there is a quiz book that comes with it, testing your knowledge of that particular subject. They are: *''The Awesome Ancient Quiz Book'' - (Ancient Civilizations) *''The Horribly Huge (Massive Millennium) Quiz Book'' - (Millennium) Sticker and Activity Books There are quite a number of Horrible Histories sticker and activity books. These include. *Horrible Christmas Sticker Book *Angry Aztecs Sticker Book *Dark Knights and Dingy Castles Sticker-Activity Book *Cut-throat Celts Sticker-Activity Book *Incredible Incas Activity Book *Gorgeous Georgians Activity Book *Savage Stone Age Sticker Book *Measly Middle Ages Activity Book *Slimy Stuarts Sticker Book *The Groovy Greeks Activity Book *The Vicious Vikings Sticker Book *Vile Victorians Activity Book *Terrible Tudors Sticker Book *Rotten Romans Sticker Book *Awesome Egyptians Activity Book *Awesome Activity Book *Savage Sticker Book *Grisly Quiz Book and Gruesome Games Pack Gory Stories A new fiction-type of Horrible Histories series has recently sprouted, called Gory Stories. The first set of books to be published in July 2008 were: *''Gory Stories - Tower of Terror (Terrible Tudors)'' *''Gory Stories - Tomb of Treasure (Awful Egyptians)'' *''Gory Stories - Wall of Woe - (Rotten Romans)'' *''Gory Stories - Shadow of the Gallows (Vile Victorians)'' *''Gory Stories - Raiders and Ruins (Vikings)'' - March 2009 *''Gory Stories - Blackout in the Blitz (World War II)'' - May 2009 *''Gory Stories - The Plague of Pain (aka Plague and Peril) (Middle Ages) - 2009'' *''Gory Stories - The Trail of Treasure (aka Pirates and Plunder) (Pirates) - 2009'' *''Big Book of Gory Stories'' (Pack of Tomb of Treasure, Wall of Woe and Tower of Terror) Blackout in the Blitz is listed on Terry Deary's website as Bombs on Britain,[1] but on Amazon.co.uk it is listed as Blackout in the Blitz, along with a cover.[2] High-speed History Beginning in 2010, a new sub-series called "High-speed History" was published. These books are written by Terry Deary and illustrated by Dave Smith. The books in the sub-series are: *''Egypt - A High-Speed History'' - 3 May 2010 *''Tudors - A High-Speed History'' - 2 Aug 2010 *''Knights - A High-Speed History'' - 3 Mar 2011 *''Rome - A High-Speed History'' - July 2011 Others These are the books that don't fit into the other categories. They are: *''Dreadful Diary'' - (An 'on this day' style diary) *''The Mad Millennium Play'' *''Poisonous Postcards'' - (a Card Book) *''Who's Horrible in History'' (September 2011) [20] *''Vile Villains'' (non-handbook) (March 2011) [21] *''Terrible Trenches'' (non-handbook) (March 2011) [22] *''Spies'' (non-handbook) (March 2011) [23] *''Blitz'' (non-handbook) [24] Titles In Progress 2010 plans *''Republishing of all city, country, handbook and original series titles'' *''Gory Stories: Pirates - February'' *''Keyring Book 2 - April'' *''High speed history: Egyptians'' - All new Horrible Histories sub-series that features historical tales in a comic-strip format. Published May 3, 2010.[2] *''High speed history: Tudors'' - Published August 2, 2010.[3] 2011 plans *''Horrible Histories - Special'' - August *Huge Book 2 - June *Horrible Histories Huge Book II published - June *HH Britain bind-up – June *HH Colouring book - June *New Horrible Histories Handbook - July *Annual 2012 - August *High speed history: Knights - August *Horrible Histories High speed history 4 - August *Horrible Histories Xmas flexi new edition republishing - September *Horrible History of Britain and Ireland - September *Who's Horrible in History - September *Wicked History of Britain - September *4 TV Tie-ins - October *Vile Villains - March 2011 *Spies - March 2011 *Terrible Tranches - March 2011 *Blitz (non-handbook version) 2012 plans *''Cruel Crime - June'' *''Annual 2013 - July'' *''Horrible Christmas - October'' *''Horrible Histories Collection (audio)- October'' *New Horrible Histories Magazines - October Horrible Histories Ebooks - May, July, and November 2013 Plans *20th Anniversary Terrifying Tudors - February *20th Anniversary Awful Egyptians(book) - February *20th Anniversary Measly Middle Ages(book) - February *20th Anniversary Rotten Romans(book) - February *20th Anniversary Groovy Greeks(book) - September *20th Anniversary Vicious Vikings(book) - September *20th Anniversary Vile Victorians(book) - September *20th Anniversary Woeful Second World War(book) - September *Deadly Days - May *Beastly Best Bits: Executioner's Cut - May Development Terry Deary's background is "very much in theatre". He studied at a drama college and worked as an actor-teacher at the TIE company in Wales. He then became a theatre director and began to write plays for children. Many of his TIE plays were eventually rewritten and adapted into the Horrible Histories book series.[4] The fifth book in the series was Blitzed Brits. This book was published in 1995, and by chance the date of publication coincided with the 50th anniversary of VE day, which is cited at being responsible for the book reaching no. 1 on the bestseller list. A couple of years later, Deary decided that the book only gave the British viewpoint during World War II, and recognised that this was a bias way of writing such a book. Therefore, Deary wrote Woeful Second World War, because he thought he owed it to his fans to give them an accurate and unbiased account of the war, by writing about it from the European viewpoint as a whole. As the British viewpoint had already been extensively described in the previous book, and as "publishers don't like you covering the same information in new books", this new book focused on the roles of France, Poland, Germany and Russia during the war. The book was published in September 1999, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II [4] Deary eventually returned to the stage. Mad Millennium was commissioned by director Phillip Clark, who was a fellow TIE participant 25 years before. He said "your Histories books are very successful. Can we turn them into a large-scale theatre production?” Deary was happy to return to writing plays.[4] Philosophy Terry Deary gave the following testimony to The Guardian in 2003: "Everything I learnt school after 11 was a waste of time...it was boring, badly taught and not related to the real world...schools are nothing but a Victorian idea to get people off the street..who decided that that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom with one teacher was the best way of educating?" This outlook on the education system served as the inspiration for the Horrible Histories series, as a possible alternative.[5] Deary has also said in an interview, "If I had it my way, I wouldn't have schools at all. They don't educate, they just keep kids off the streets. But my books educate, because they prepare kids for life."[6] Deary has said, "It's outrageous - why don't we start telling children the truth about history? I hope my books do just that."[6] According to Consuming history: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture by Jerome De Groot, Horrible Histories books are designed to engage and enthuse the reader about a subject while appearing subversive. QAccording to him, the books are primarily entertainment with educative purpose.[2] Groot also suggests that Horrible Histories has a sceptical view on the accuracy and validity of history. In an introduction to one of the books in series, it states [2] Deary has many research methods when he is writing his books. He uses researchers for all Horrible Histories books, and sometimes uses researchers in specialised fields, such as a military historian for The Woeful Second War. Deary always "reads the most up-to-date books on the period he's writing about", although he also uses the internet more and more as time goes by. He also "completely absorbs himself into a period so he'll know the whole historical context as well as all the events of that time". In cases when he "ends up with far more information than he needs", he tends to exclude all the "boring facts" such as dates because according to Deary himself, "dates don't matter. Human experience matters". [4] Deary does not want his books to come over as preachy, saying "I'm an adult, I know this and I'm going to tell you". Instead, in his opinion the author's voice is an ignorant person exclaiming "you'll never believe what I found out when I read this book". He thinks that this series is essentially about discovering the wonders of human nature, and questioning whether we could possibly behave how those before us behaved. [4] Deary does not consider himself "an academic...a teacher...or even an adult". Instead, he views himself as kid who wants to share facts with other kids. He thinks that the writer of a non-fiction series such as Horrible Histories has to "entertain first and inform second". Deary does not respect authors who follow each extreme. He believes that "readers are more important than writers and their needs have to come first". He believes that if you engage the reader, and if they are entertained by the substance, they will retain more knowledge from the work. [4] Deary uses many generic conventions of literature to make his books more accessible to his readers. He will deliberately write his books in a prose style so they follow natural speech cadences, and are therefore more natural to speak. He also uses alliteration and assonance quite frequently. Deary considered poetry to be "just another weapon in the writer's armoury" rather than a specialised form of prose that may only be used in specific circumstances, and is "very comfortable with using it" in his non-fiction works. Deary thinks that the impersonal language used in textbooks alienates the reader, and feels that this is a huge drawback in engaging the reader in the work. He therefore uses the second person to talk directly to the reader, the grammatical person he would use if he were talking to the reader in real life. He views Horrible Histories as one of the few non-fiction or fiction series which utilise this "underused style of writing".[4] Deary uses the medium of a newspaper to make serious material more accessible to the reader so they approach the piece in "a more relaxed frame of mind than they would a school text", for example in an article about the Massacre at Lidice. Newspapers can also be used to illustrate "mysterious and quite lighthearted" stories, such as those which might appear in a "Sun newspaper". In these circumstances, this medium is used as its subject matter is reminiscent of the other, more recognisable medium. Newspapers extracts, along with letters and diaries are used to tell stories from the perspectives of individual people, to engage the reader into the story. he "tries to get away from the objective, and to get his readers to view history subjectively".[4] When writing about events and historical periods that are still in living memory, such as the Second World War, a degree of "sensitivity to be involved". While the story about an executioner that requires ten hacks to chop someone's head off in Even More Terrible Tudors is comical as contemporary society is so far removed from the event, relatively recent events are controversial to write about as readers may personally know people who died in the war, or may not want to discuss the Holocaust with their children. However, Deary believes that it is important for children to know about these events, and that they cannot be deemed taboo and never spoken of.[4] The majority of the demographic of Horrible Histories readers are "reluctant readers", who like Deary's series as they can "pick one up, read a small section, and then put it down again". Deary attributes this to the use of short chapters, the fact that one may read the book in a non-linear order, and the varying uses of media in each book, such as quizzes and comic strips.[4] Nikki Gamble writes in her book ICT and literacy that two Year 5 twins appreciated the book's non-linear structure as "you don't have to read books from beginning to end..one of us can, um, read the first chapter and the other one can be reading the last bit...it doesn't really matter about the order, does it?" The information in the books is presented in an informal way, and the tone of the books is conversational. [2] Book makeover On 7 May 2007, the original series of the Horrible Histories books began to be republished with a new look and new content. The new books have altered information on the back cover, an index and a brighter, redesigned front cover. Magazines See The Horrible Histories Collection Horrible Histories' Brainiest Boffin Contest In 2003, to celebrate Horrible Histories' 10th anniversary, Scholastic held a contest to find Horrible Histories' Brainiest Boffin. Terry Deary played Quizmaster and through a series of rounds, gradually eliminated five of the six finalists to be invited to the London vaults from 500 applicants. After the sudden death final, Iain Gibbons was crowned the winner. [3] Tours and Exhibitions See Horrible Histories:Tours and Exhibitions Reception and criticism The book series has been generally well received. Some reviews from CaptainD [1] gives positive feedback towards the books. *A review by Tammy McQuoid at [2] states that "While the book is quite irreverent at times, it does have plenty of historical information in it." citing an example as "the fact that they say the Normans brought the feudal system to England and that Henry II of England said that he wished he could be rid of Thomas a Becket. And then some of Henry's knights took it upon themselves to kill Thomas a Becket, an archbishop." She however does state some positive remarks including "There's plenty more of good, factual history included...I think it's a good idea to mix up unit studies a bit with some educational fun and games." *Carole Green of the BBC did a review on the Terrible Tudors play at the Grand Opera House, 2006 [3].She gave a very positive review stating "It was a wonderful evening, very funny and educational without realising it." *The Guardian gave a review about the series as a whole [4], also stating comments from a variety of distinguished people. Angela Marks, the history co-ordinator and teacher at St Luke's Church of England Primary School said that the books "...are very cleverly done...children feel that they shouldn't be reading them, that there is something slightly naughty about them. That immediately engages them." Julian Pooley, an archivist said "I wish there had been books like this around when I was at school, when history was all facts and no life. I made do with Ladybird guides." *yummy87 at [5] stated that the series "...is interesting, and is written in such an amusing way, that it will keep children and adults enthralled for hours. I believe that the magazine represents wonderful value for money, as the magazines will be used continually." *Joseph Allen McCullough Of Suite101 offered a review on the city-themed book Oxford: Not only is this new little book a great read for anyone (child or adult) with a passing interest in history, it is also a necessary book for any tourist to the city of Dreaming Spires. Any tourist guide will likely tell you who got killed where in Oxford, but Deary's book will do the same thing and entertain you at the same time." (http://britishhistory.suite101.co m/article.cfm/horrible_histories_oxford_review) *However, the series causes trouble in some parts of the world. The book Bloody Scotland drew the ire of the tiny Scottish Separatist Group, who claimed it promoted a "UK centric, anti-Scottish viewpoint of Scottish history", using comments like "Cook the haggis until it looks like a hedgehog after the fifteenth lorry has run over it". They reported the book to the Commission for Racial Equality, who rejected their claim.[4] The National Trust was unhappy with Cruel Kings and Mean Queens because it made jokes about Prince Charles's ears (the prince is the trust's patron) and Queen Elizabeth II.[4][5] The book "Slimy Stuarts" has been accused of Anti-Catholic views. According to Terry Deary's homepage, "Several of the books have been banned in some places."[4] In the Horrible Histories series, there are two books titled The Horrible History of the World and The Wicked History of the World; however, they are the same book, only with different headings. To confuse things further, compact and mini editions are planned for release at the end of 2007. The same incident occurred with The Horribly Huge Quiz Book and Massive Millennium Quiz Book, and The Mad Millennium and Mad Millennium Play. Also, there are two different covers for Horrible Christmas, as well as new paperback, compact and mini editions soon to be published. In an article called "Scholastic's Horrible Histories Book Series: Promoting Hate", posted on October 10, 2006 on Literanista,[6] a comment was made on the use of violent imagery in the book Angry Aztecs: "Now I understand trying to promote reading through the use of gross graphics and cartoonish depictions in an attempt to engage kids, but honestly do Latinos and other foreign groups really need children having these depictions encrypted into their little heads at school." A user named Anonymous rebutted this comment by stating the book/s historical accuracy, and hence the images being justified: "The Aztecs DID engage in human sacrifice in the manner depicted on the front cover of The Angry Aztecs. There is nothing inaccurate there. If you read the book you will see it covers other aspects of Aztec culture, not just the brutal parts, although the Horrible Histories series does tend to focus on the sensational." Awards *Best Book with Facts in the Blue Peter Book Awards 2000 *Best Book for Knowledge Award at the Blue Peter Book Awards 2001 *Terry Deary tops the list of most-borrowed non-fiction children’s authors every year. (Figures based on the Library Survey) *Terry Deary was voted the fifth most popular living children’s author in a 2005 Guardian survey. Narins [16] *Winner of British Comedy Awards 2011(TV series) Other languages Poland This is a sub-series of Horrible Histories books describing various aspects of Polish history and society (written by Małgorzata Fabianowska and Małgorzata Nesteruk, illustrated by Jędrzej Łaniecki) *Ci Sprytni Słowianie (The Clever Slavs) - (Slavs) *Pokrętni Piastowie (Piast Dynasty) - (Piast Dynasty) *Dynamiczna Dynastia Jagiellonów (Dynamic Jagiellon Dynasty) - (Jagiellon Dynasty) *Sakramencki Sarmatyzm (Bloody Samatism) - (Sarmatism) *Atrakcyjni królowie Elekcyjni (Sovereign Election Appeal) - (Polish Elections and Polish Elective Monarchy) *Zagmatwane zabory - (Invasive Embroilment) (Partitions of Poland) *Nieznośna niepodległość (Vexing Independence) - (History of Poland (1918-1939)) These books have not yet been published in English. Czech The Czech translations of the Pollish sub-series are: *''Mazaní Slované'' (The Clever Slavs) ''- (Slavs)'' Germany The first Horrible Histories Videogame has also been published in Germany, translating the series' title as Schauderhafte Geschichten. Dutch The Dutch series Waanzinnig om te weten is a translation and an adaptation of the English series Horrible Histories, Horrible Science and Horrible Geography, but not all parts are in the Dutch translation. Category:Horrible Histories Category:Terry Deary Category:Martin Brown Category:Phillip Reeve Category:Philip Reeve